Improvement in screw propulsion for tuo-boats



No. 102,111. PATENTED APR.19, 1870A B. D. GIRD.

SCREW PROPULSION POR TUG BOATS.

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tit-nidi [eine taunt @ritira Letters Patent N 102,111, rated April 19, 1870.

IMPROVEMENT SCREW PROPULSION E ORl 'PUG-BOATS.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making purl: of the ,same

Beit known that I, EDWARD D. Gurn, of the city of Syracuse,- county of Onondaga and -State of New York, have invented a new and usefullmprovement. in Tug-Boats; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full,'clear, and exact description thereof,

reference being had to the accompanying drawingsand the letters of reference marked thereon.

The nature of my invention consists in the corr'- 4struction of 'a fiat-bottomed tugfboat, with. reversible rndders on its sides, and whose ends are like, with its machinery so constructed as to admit or its running equally wel] in either direction; the distributing of the propelling fans or leaves over the entire area of the bot-tom ofthe boat, secured upon rods or shafts in such a marmer as to distribute the force equally upon the column of water acted upon; the revolving of these propelling-leaves or fans by means of beveled gears and connecting-shafts, sustained by single and double-journaled hangers, as hereinafter described. Figure 1 of the drawings is a side view ofthe boat, with the propelling apparatus attached. .f

AFigure 2 shows the arrangement and operation of the beveled gearing.y

Figure 3 represents the bottom of the boat and the position of the fans upor'r rthe shafts.

H, fig. l, represents the hull lor body of the boat, constructed with a dat bbttom, for the purpose of making it of light draught, and to permit the attachment of. the propelling-shafts, as hereinafter slrowu. AThe ends are made similar to each other in form, as shown at G G, fig. 3.

The shafts D D, to which the fans C C G are attached, are suspended to the bottom of the boat by hangers F F, and run parallel with the bottom and with each other, at such distances apart as will allow the fans C C C to operate upon a column of water equal in width to that ofthe bottom of the boat. The fans are attached to the shafts by a double cone-shaped hub, and the shafts are made pointed at their ends, in order to afford as little resistance as possible to the water. The hangers attaching the shafts to the boat are also made with sharp edges, for the same purpose.

The hangers l"2 11" are provided with journals, to

admit the ends of the shafts l T. Their opposite ends journal into the central hanger H. 4 The fans areso situated that thearms of each will operate in the space between' the fans on the adjacent shaft, as-slrown in iig. 3, C, and are so placed on the shafts that the angle of each differs from that of all the others. Motion-is imparted to these shafts by nik-ans ofthe bevel-gear' A, tig 2, also shown in fig. 1. This bevelgear is o n the end of an upright shaft, which extends through the bottom of the boat, and is connected undy operated bythe machinery above. This gear meshes into the gear-wheel G, which revolves the shaft D, tig. l2. The bevel-gear J, shown upon the same shaft, meshes into the bevel-gear G G, which tums the short or transmitting-snails T T. The bevel-gear E, upon the end ofthis shaft, meshes into the bevel-gear B, thus imparting a uniform motion to all of the sbatls.

The rudders P P, fig. 3, are situated in the center of each side of the boat, and are swung upon the piv. o'ts R R, so as to enable them to turn either way, to

correspond with the direction of the boat, and are letinto its sides, so that, when closed, they are protected and present a smooth and unobstructed surface. The

object of their being so placed is to avoid the danger.

of contact to which they would beliable if at the ends, and also to render them more effective for steering "purposes than in the other' position, owing to the lightness' of draught.

The advantages gained by this boat are- First, the propeller fans are made to operate upon so heavy a columnof water that the saure will not be put in rapid motion, and consequently will not ilrjure the canal banks by washing.

Second, the boat being a double-ender, and the urachinery so arranged that it is propelled in either dlrecton with equal facility, enables it to overcome the diiiicnlty heretofore existing, viz, waste of time, oceatiorred by turning or' backing, when drawing a tug of boats in or out of a lock, and, also the .facility with which boats can be stopped or started by pushing against them, either end being used as a ram.

Having thus described my invention,

What I desire to claim, aml secureby Letters Pa ent, is`

1. The double-ended flat-bottomed hull H, in connection with the reversible rudders P P, situated on and let into the sides of the same, substantially as described and shown.

2. The shaft-s D D D, carrying the propellers 0 C C, in combination with the hangers F F* and 1P, the bevel-,gears B B,G G G, and E E, the trzursurittingshafts T T, and the vertical sha: and gear-wheel A, arranged and operated substantially as described and for the purpose set forth.

EDWARD D. GIRD. Witnesses:

i W. J. Jonxsrox,

J .urns Wrrrrrse. 

